Troublemaker
by Shortness
Summary: When Red X and Raven's paths cross, he finds himself conflicted between pursuing her as his law abiding, civilian alias and keeping up appearances as his alter-ego. But the closer they become, the more she realizes there is more to the tempting bachelor than meets the eye.


_I've been working on this one for quite a while. A fluff-filled story inspired by the wonderful RaeRedX fictions written by __**Xaphrin**__! Enjoy, friends, and as always, review!_

Troublemaker

Chapter 1: Hidden In Plain Sight

"Finally," Raven whispered in relief as she glided over the endless skyscrapers of Jump City. After searching for half an hour with faulty coordinates, she managed to find the tower from which she was ordered to operate a surveillance. For the past two weeks, Robin had been hellbent to find Red X as soon as possible, and not for any of the crimes that he had initially committed to earn a special place in Robin's heart-of course, with intent to hate with a passion. He was partial to getting revenge for a series of perfectly orchestrated pranks on him, and one in particular-Red X foolishly degraded Robin's motorcycle by spray painting "Sack Rider" on the rear.

Since the incident, the team had been on hourly watchtower shifts.

Raven softly landed on the roof top, breathing a sigh of gratitude for the convenience of her watch tower. It faced the luminescent sunset with little to no tall buildings blocking the view. She walked slowly toward the high ledge, and rested her arms on the cement as she stared at the multicolored evening phenomenon. The sun appeared to be reaching out for the edges of daytime sky, whipping strokes of lavender and crimson orange like a fantastic watercolor painting.

Pushing her hood off her head, Raven felt the dregs of daily exhaustion urge her to take advantage of this personal time-fortunately away from the annoyances of the team-and simply relax.

As she contemplated taking the time to mediate, she absent-mindedly heard low footsteps echoing behind her. A pang of frustration thumped at her temple, reminding her that her career choice as a superhero was not one that included "personal time" in the job description.

She stepped back, preparing to swing around and strike the unidentified stranger, until she realized it was a young man, walking toward the ledge at a significant distance from her. He looked her way, furrowing his dark eyebrows as what she was doing and _who_ she happened to be occurred to him. He stopped in his tracks, starting intently with takeout bowls and a suitcase in tow.

Raven lowered her hands and rolled her eyes. _Oh hell. Me and my paranoia._

"Erm... Do I know you from somewhere?" the young man questioned from far away. She scoffed.

"Of course you do." She rested her head on her hand and he stepped a few feet closer.

"Yeah, I do know you... You're..Raven, correct?" She nodded slowly, indicating that she did not want to be bothered by a blundering fanboy. The man chuckled inwardly, as if he figured she thought he wanted an autograph. "Oh, no, I'm not here to bother you. I come to this rooftop every day after work. It has the best view of the sunset in the business district. " Raven's stony facial expression softened a bit, but she did not say anything else.

He raised a free hand in surrender, understanding that she was not in the most friendly of moods. "Okay, I won't bother you. It's just...not every day that you meet a superhero, right?" He approached the ledge several feet away from Raven, placed his suitcase down to his left, and promptly opened one of his takeout bowls.

A few minutes passed before he spoke to her again in between forkfulls of food. "So...how long have you been up here?" Raven looked in his direction and blinked. He was a pretty tall, slim young man with slightly messy dark locks. He wore a blue business suit to complement his appearance, but he seemed to be inwardly uncomfortable with his own get-up.

"About...fifteen minutes now." She paused, further observing him. His emotional barriers seemed to fit a normal civilian-one who was unaware of her empathy-but were a bit more guarded than usual. "You must've recently gotten this job of yours."

He looked up from his food, jaw unmoving, but slowly returned to his chewing. Swallowing, he said, "Something like that. More like a new location. I'm an entrepreneur, and I work with several companies. I just recently started working with this one. It's a bit more long-term and formal."

She snorted, but his explanation matched her observation. "How recent is recent? I'm saying... you act as if you've come to this tower for years." He smiled lowly, losing interest in his food.

"About two months now. Long enough?" She rolled her eyes and looked away, signaling defeat. "I'm Jason, by the way. But um...I don't want to seem too forward but, you might be hungry and I have an extra bowl of takeout from Chipotle. I'm not really starving or anything..." He raised the second bowl high for her to see. "Would you like to have it?"

Raven leered at him, following his words with deadpan silence until she began to step closer to him. As she reached a distance of close proximity to him, she noticed his hardened features and dark, mysterious eyes. He was extremely handsome, and she hated herself for acknowledging it. Softly gripping the bowl, she forced the eye contact to hold fast. Raven did not waiver-but Jason began to squint, like she was glowing increasingly bright.

"Thanks...Jason." His eyebrow twitched and his mouth opened and shut as he continued to stare at her. An unusually confused expression forced Raven to finally inquire. "What's wrong? Is there something on my-"

"Your eyes." Jason leaned a bit closer to her face. They suddenly appeared to grow larger in size and depth. "They are so...so big. And...piercing. And...purple." Raven backed away a bit, blushing slightly. She looked down and opened her bowl, staring at it for a while before sticking the plastic fork into it.

Jason's eyebrows furrowed, obviously noticing the shame she suddenly felt. He lowered his bowl down. "Oh no, I wasn't saying that in a bad way. They're just so...mesmerizing and unique." He stared closely at her bashful expression. "And beautiful."

Raven's head picked up quickly and the blush deepened further, and she could not fight the urge to crack a smile. It lit her face aglow in the last sheaths of light from the sun. But something inside of her somehow felt...irritated by his comment. She glared at him. "Are you some kind of a ladies' man? Because I'm not one to fool. Trust me." Jason's eyebrows raised, clearly surprised by her sudden inquiry and statement of words, but he listened nonetheless. Raven leaned in closer to his own face, becoming more intimidating than before. "I'm not your average bumbling fool of a woman, Mr. Jason. I'm much more observant and I'm not confounded by my reflection in the mirror."

Thick silence blanketed the pair until Jason shook his head, smiling to himself. Her guarded personality only urged his desire to chase the challenge. Violet eyes bore into his, unblinking. "I'm far from your everyday ladies' man, Raven. I was just acknowledging something about you that's hardly unnoticeable." His facial expression revered a quaint gentleman, eager for a game of chess. "However, I do like to entertain women with casual...conversation."

Raven could not help but to smirk. "Okay then," she said softly. "I'll allow you to entertain me, for now."

IIIIIII

"I don't know, haven't you ever thought that it's a tad bit extravagant for a group of teenagers?"

Raven nibbled on her fingernails, nodding her head slowly. "I still don't know who's idea it was to make it an oversized letter T. Well, I do, but I don't know why Cyborg needed that. Maybe it's a guy thing...I don't know. But it's extremely noticable. I thought we were going to try to keep a low profile but that was pretty much a lost cause."

Jason's chest tremored with laughter. "Hilarious. But you guys fit like puzzle pieces, right?" Raven nodded, tapping her hands on the cement ledge on which she was sitting on while facing away from the night sky.

"Something...like that. But you're not going to get any of our secrets, fanboy." He chuckled again, moving close to her pale thigh and looked up at her billowing appearance.

"I'm no one's fan...no one but you, Miss Raven." She shied her face away, hiding her reddening cheeks. This man was certainly trying pretty hard, and she had to give him credit. They had been chatting away for over an hour, and the sky was already teeming with twinkling stars and a large waning gibbous moon.

"You don't know me very well to be." Jason shifted himself to fully face her glowing visage in the red and white city lights. She had an aura of untapped and ethereal power that could be sensed like rippling chills, even by the most ordinary of people. It was incredibly intriguing.

"Well, if you give me the chance, I'd like to get to know you." She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Jason really thought it was that easy. As if on cue, her communicator blared loudly hidden under the folds of her cloak, subsequently saving her from replying to him. She tugged it out and flipped it open.

"Raven here."

Robin's concerned face appeared in the small display screen. He looked distraught under the mask, as if his room was just ransacked in a desperate attempt to find any information on his perpetrator. "I haven't heard from you since you checked in from the watchtower. Is everything okay over there?" Raven nodded, simultaneously pulling up her hood.

"Everything is fine. Nothing out of the ordinary since I came. Is it time for us to switch?" Robin shook his head.

"No, I'm calling off the watch for the night. Just come home at this point." His expression read disappointment and frustration. Raven felt bad that he evidently could not find a trace of Red X anywhere in the city.

"Alright. Raven out." She shut the communicator and slid off the ledge onto the rooftop pavement. Her long eyes were hidden behind her hood, but Jason could tell it was her goodbye. She wrapped her cloak tightly around her as the wind chill picked up, and peered up at the clear night skies. "if you're in any rush home, I can take you downstairs faster than the elevator can."

He almost choked on his own spit. "Take me...downstairs?" Raven nodded slowly, watching his reaction. The evident confusion on his face showed that he did not know how to answer such an extraordinary question, so she pulled herself back onto the ledge and stood up tall. Raven reached out her hand to Jason.

"Come on. I promise I won't drop you." She looked...fearless and carelessly able to stand inches way from a doomed fall. Rolling her eyes, Raven crouched down closer to him. "If you're worried about onlookers,"-she turned her head toward the west end of the rooftop-"we can drop into that alley over there," her raspy voice sounding calming and almost softened. _Drop? _ Jason sighed and followed her floating figure to the other side of the building. Reluctantly, he gripped her tiny hand and she tugged him into the air. The tips of her boots brushed the cement of the ledge as Jason felt his own feet slowly lift off the floor.

Pulling him higher, he could feel an invisible push of energy under the soles of his feet as they began their descent. Raven took advantage of the moment to feel through his tangled emotions for the presence of fear. Since he "wanted to get to know her", he certainly had to become accustomed to _special _girl like her. However, there was not an inkling of unease in his body. It seemed so strange that such an average Joe was not even experiencing the slightest discomfort while dangling thirty feet in the air.

His face displayed the opposite emotions that she sensed as his eyes jumped nervously from her to the approaching ground. "Do you do this for all of your guy friends?" She smirked, silently resting him onto the earth. He stepped back, staring at the strange, goddess-like being before him.

"Thanks, Raven. That was...that was pretty cool of you." He scratched the back of his head, feeling like a child in front of a fully grown woman, and she nodded in return.

"It's the least I could do for the Chipotle."

Jason tapped his foot nervously, searching for the next words he would say. "Especially since...you know, a lot of people think you're...kind of scary. Like a-"

"A witch, perhaps?" Raven finished, irritation evident in her voice. Jason fell quiet momentarily.

_Damn. Shouldn't have went there._

"Yes. But, I don't see you in that way. You're just...different." Her eyes widened, recalling her memories of the early days of the Titans. No one understood her; they thought she was an oddball-even in a crew of oddballs-for adoring books and despising common childish games. And here was someone, an extremely random someone, who finally put two and two together.

Raven stepped closer to him, feeling the salty water building up in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Jason." And with that, she stepped into a vortex on the cement wall behind him, disappearing from the spot and leaving him with nothing but a brief scent of mint and chamomile.

IIIIIII

He did not see her again for three weeks.

That was twenty-one days, seven hours and forty-two seconds.

Of all the experiences he had in his short life, nothing had come close to giving such an adrenaline rush as his civilian meeting with Raven. The Raven.

Nothing amounted to it-not even stealing Robin's suit.

How was she going to know who he was? It could not be possible. It was a complete coincidence that he would meet her on a rooftop in his business clothes, and of course, had he been wearing his mask and cape, she would have torn the very fabric of his being into smithereens.

While he cared not about the obvious danger of continuing to pursue her, he also could give a damn if she found out who was his alter-ego. He laughed sickly at this experience that seemed to be pulled directly out of a typical romantic chick flick. Good girl meet good guy, who turns out to be a bad guy, but he is really good, then good girl manages to convince him to stay good and he concedes to her wishes. Bullshit. There was no way any so-called superhero was going to convince Jason to beg Robin for a front row seat on his happy train all the way to Redemption Land. Besides, he enjoyed toying with Robin's fragile self-control way too much to give up his exceptionally well-paying career.

But what surprised him the most was his obvious attraction to the neighborhood demoness. She had never before sparked that juice to flow south for him until he met her in the most vulnerable of settings. She had no war face or no flying tow trucks to distract him from her heavenly and curvaceous legs. She was simply...there, as she was, and in that moment, she had become a woman in his eyes.

He snorted to himself, suddenly feeling a bit out of place while walking across the busy midday street along with mindless workaholics wizzing past him. Here he was, saying this woman could not change him, and he was continuously thinking-dreaming-about her. His small window of opportunity to bring some spice to his life had closed the moment she left his presence, and something told him it would be the last time she was ever going to surprise a businessman on that rooftop. He had to accept the fact that the occurrence was most likely the only one of its kind.

And just like that-once he accepted that he had no control of the situation, an angel opened another window of opportunity-literally. Standing by a tinted window was a slender figure thumbing and searching through books while her violet locks fell around her visage. He knew that frame anywhere-and it barely registered in his mind that he had already flown through the bookstore's entrance and was standing beside this elusive empath.

It took her two whole minutes to acknowledge the man staring her down. When she managed to raise her head from her massive book, she double-taked his familiar face. "Can I he...Hmm. You're that guy from the rooftop." She barely offered a wisp of a smile before returning to her reading. Jason's stomach rose to his throat.

"Uhm ehm, yes, I am. I was on my way to my car in the parking deck next door when I noticed you in the window. Thought it would be wrong not to stop and say hello. So... You read?" He readjusted himself to offset his obvious nervousness. What about this girl made him feel thrown out of his comfort zone? Something about her today seemed a lot more emotionally reserved. Raven looked up again, this time boring her piercing amethyst eyes deep into his thick layer of self confidence and further into the hidden chamber of his mind that his inner child resided. He had seen his life flash before him in her eyes that day.

"How observant of you. Listen, I'd love to chat about the weather today but I'm in the middle of research." Jason did not want to pry, as he knew how secretive the Titans could be, until he noticed the words in her book were in French. He smirked. _Jackpot._

"So...parlez-vous Français?"

Her left eyebrow twitched as the commonly repeated phrase slid out of his mouth, but was surprisingly pronounced perfectly. She inwardly smiled before she closed the book and turned her body to face him, leaning lazily on the sturdy bookcase. "Yes. And thirteen other languages. But I typically read them for the most part."

Jason crossed his arms in amazement. Now, he was getting somewhere. "Wow, I'm impressed. Unfortunately I don't speak anything else other than English, French and a bit of Italian. Perhaps, you could teach me sometime." As he stepped closer to Raven, she had already figured where he was going with this. Between his woody musk and his close proximity to her, she could not pinpoint what exactly was causing her emotional control to fluctuate.

"I don't...think we'd have the time."

This was it. "Perhaps...Over lunch then? Or maybe dinner...you know, in case a big monster attacks the city around midday and takes up your entire afternoon." Jason nudged a small snicker out of the demoness, and she covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her blush. "Come onnnn...I promise the place will be better than Chipotle." He was definitely getting somewhere.

Raven nodded quickly, grabbing her book back off the shelf and softly pushing past him. Before continuing to head for the cashier, she looked back at him, softly replying, "Dinner sounds...nice."

Deep down, Jason's inner child's face lit up with a carefree grin.


End file.
